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Injured
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Students learn firstaid in the wild
Soldotna notches victory over Wasilla
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Sports/B-1
CLARION
Mosly cloudy 38/26 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
Friday-Saturday, January 16-17, 2015 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 45, Issue 90
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Caught on camera
Question Should lawmakers be constitutionally prohibited from using the earnings of the Alaska Permanent Fund to pay for state government? n Yes n No
Soldotna man guilty in K-Beach theft
To place your vote and comment, visit our Web site at www. peninsulaclarion. com. Results and selected comments will be posted each Tuesday in the Clarion, and a new question will be asked. Suggested questions may be submitted online or e-mailed to news@peninsulaclarion.com.
In the news Thomas, Cashen named deputy state labor commissioners C
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JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Joe Thomas, a former Democratic state senator from Fairbanks, has been named a deputy commissioner of the state labor department. Thomas’ appointment was announced by the department Thursday, along with that of Greg Cashen, also as a deputy commissioner. Thomas has a labor background, including work as a labor leader in Fairbanks. He was elected to the state Senate in 2006. He lost a re-election bid in 2012. Cashen most recently served as administrative services director for the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. He is a former assistant commissioner in the labor department and former executive director of the Alaska Workforce Investment Board.
By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
France Bennett, of Anchorage, hugs her Wheaten terrier mix Didley after Soldotna resident Amanda Burg returned the dog on Thursday in Sterling, Alaska. Bennett lost Didley on Jan. 10 and after an extensive search, Kenai Peninsula residents located the errant dog, trapped him, and returned him to his owners.
A new leash on life
Kenai Peninsula volunteers help Anchorage woman find dog By BEN BOETTGER Peninsula Clarion
Francy Bennett was traveling from her home in Anchorage to an appointment in Homer when her dog Didley ran away in the Soldotna Fred Meyers parking lot on January 10. Bennett had rescued
Didley, a wheaten terrier mix, from a shelter in Washington two weeks earlier, where she said that he had not been socialized. “For his first six months he was never touched by a human being,” Bennett said. “When we got him, he was not impressed with people.”
‘Have Board of Fisheries politics become so poisonous that board members can’t even consider the possibility that an advocate for a commercial fishing organization wouldn’t be just as effective an advocate for a state agency?’ ... See page A-4
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Nation.................... A-5 World..................... A-7 Sports.....................B-1 Classifieds............ C-3 Comics................. C-11
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posting on Facebook to notify people of the lost dog. Bennett’s message was quickly reposted to several other Facebook groups. Bennett said that at least 12 people contacted her to help find Didley. Bennett called Michelle DiMilta, CEO and former See DOG, page A-10
State talks changes at River Ranch 146-acre riverfront parcel considered for new river-access point By Rashah McChesney Peninsula Clarion
Inside
Didley ran away from Bennett with his leash attached. Bennett said she had no time for immediate pursuit. “It was pretty traumatic for me. I had my appointment in Homer the next day,” Bennett said. On January 11, she began searching for Didley, putting up flyers and making a
First, it was a homestead for long-time Alaskans Eugene and Della Hansen. Then, funds from the Exxon Valdez oil spill were used to buy and close the riverfront parcel along Funny River road. Now, Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources and Fish and Game are asking the public to weigh in on potential changes to the 146-acre parcel which could result in a new public access spot to the Kenai River. A public scoping meeting, to be held in Soldotna on Tuesday, will give the community a chance to weigh in on potential changes to the parcel which some neighbors have suggested would make a good spot for a boat launch and campground. Others have asked for the bank to be reopened for fishing in an area known as a good sockeye salmon hole. Funny River resident Ray Price, who lives near the area known by the state as the River Ranch property, said that residents in Funny River had approached their Chamber of Commerce asking when the property would be developed. The property is in an area of the middle portion of the Kenai River that doesn’t have many public access points. Morgan’s Landing is close by to the south, but it is located on the other end of the river — while the closest public access uprive of the parcel is several miles away. “It just sits here and nothing is happening to it and I just feel that people out here would benefit because we’re getting more people out here in Funny River all of the time. It would give some people access to the river,” Price said. When the state bought the land from the Hansens, the area was closed to bank fishing under a conservation easement that prohibits fishing within 10 feet of the waterline from July 1- August 14.
Contributed photo by Jack Blackwell
This aerial photo of the River Ranch property, the large cleared area near the center of the frame, shows the area being considered for changes and a potential access area to the Kenai River along Funny River Road.
Price said he’d like to see it opened for bank anglers again. “A lot of people used to fish there,” he said. “The minute (the state) bough it, they closed the whole bank area. You’re not even supposed to land a boat on the river bank.” Price said the anglers have been losing access to bank fishing along the river for years and he hoped the state would be able to work with residents to open more of it up to public use. The Hansen still live on the property as caretakers. State Parks Kenai Peninsula Area Superintendent Jack Blackwell said the couple’s contract had just been renewed for the 2015 season. “We can work around them,” Price said. “This is a project that’s going to take several years, so it won’t bother them while they’re still living there.” Currently, the River Ranch property is co-managed between Fish and Game and the Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Parks. “It’s not like we’re actively doing anything there, we’re just monitoring the area,” Blackwell said. C
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Last year, residents in Funny River put in a legislative request to fund a planning process and the legislature allocated $35,000 toward the effort. “We formed a planning team with DNR and Fish and Game staff and will be starting the planning process this month,” Blackwell said. Staff will hold two planning meetings to get ideas and input from users, then prepare draft concept plans based on the public comments and information gathered by the planning team. See RIVER, page A-10
A public scoping meeting will be held at the River Center, 514 Funny River Road, in Soldotna on Tuesday from 7-8:30 p.m. Another on Wednesday from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Atwood building, 550 W. 7th in Anchorage.
Four months after two people, on two consecutive days, broke into Kalifornsky resident Michael Stinnet’s shop off Gas Well Road, he still hasn’t gotten most of his stolen items back. He did, however, get some justice after one of the persons arrested in the theft pleaded guilty in Kenai Superior Court Wednesday to the crime along with other charges from two separate cases. Stinnett said the conviction might not have been possible if he had not installed a game camera on his property after the first break-in. It caught two people in the act the next day. Joseph Freel, 26, of Soldotna, pleaded guilty to four felony charges including – theft, misconduct with weapons, vehicle theft and a separate controlled substance charge. Freel also pleaded guilty to a parole violation from a 2013 drug conviction. Freel’s attorney Chris Provost, from Anchorage, finalized an agreement with Kenai assistant district attorney Sam Scott prior to Wednesday’s court hearing. Under Alaska Statute, class C felony convictions carry a maximum five years in prison and up to $50,000 fine each. Scott read the resolution in court and said Freel would have three years suspended and a $5,000 fine on each felony and requested five years probation. Kenai Superior Court He will be sentenced April 9. The first three charges stem from a September theft investigation by Alaska State Troopers at Stinnet’s shop on Helgeson Avenue. The day after he reported the first theft, he found his three-wheeler stolen. After looking over the footage with troopers, two felons, Freel and Alyssa Espinoza, 25, were caught on video. According to a trooper affidavit filed in Kenai Superior Court on Oct. 12, 2014, Freel could be seen prying open the shop door. A broken knife was discovered on the ground near the door. Freel denied involvement in the burglary of the shop but admitted to being on camera during the theft and stealing the three-wheeler. “(Freel) was looking right into the camera,” Stinnett said. “I would hope he didn’t want to fight anymore and pay his debt. Even though he pleaded guilty, the only way I get my money back is if he wants to pay me.” Stinnett told troopers in addition to the three-wheeler and various personal items, at least three firearms were stolen – including an AR-15, a Russian SKS rifle with a bayonet and a .44 magnum pistol. Last October, a Kenai Grand Jury indicted Freel, Espinoza, Tyler Lewis, 28, and Paul Robson, 33, on eight total felony charges in connection with the burglary and theft of Stinnett’s shop. Espinoza is facing seven felony charges burglary, theft, first-degree vehicle theft and misconduct involving weapons for selling two firearms to a felon. See THEFT, page A-2